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So, I'm from east London, UK. I have graduated from The Guitar Institute in west London and am trying to make a living from music. Music is the elixir of life and is especially effective when mixed with drink and good company.

And speaking of life, life is too short to spend all of it wondering what you're gonna do with it. My love is music, and that is why I choose to pursue it and I have much respect for anyone who has a dream and makes an effort to bring it into their reality.

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Music taste (and a wide variety of flavours)

And speaking of music, I started off being into the whole rock thing in my early teens. My favourite bands were Guns n Roses, Bon Jovi, Skid Row, Nirvana, The Scorpions and Toto among others. As I grew older I started getting into other styles of music such as funk, jazz, latin, RnB, metal, soul and various "world" music and realised I really liked the progressive element in music (although I didn't know the word "progressive" in a musical context at the time). I'm glad I've developed a wide ranging taste in music as it allows you fit into som many different situations (and also helps quite a bit on the session scene). But despite my eclectic taste, rock still is, and probably always will be, the music of my people. RAWK ON!!!!

/ m / ; / m /

Spiral Compass

My main project at the moment is my originals band, Spiral Compass. It's basically a rock band with emphasis on groove, a varied range of styles and progressiveness. Check out the Spiral Compass Myspace page:Spiral CompassI've currently got my producer hat on recording and mixing the tracks.

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Tom Likes Dogs

Website: www.tomlikesdogs.co.uk
Myspace: www.myspace.com/tomlikesdogs

I also have a covers band which I put together called Tom Likes Dogs. We play pretty much anything from Jamiroquai to Bad Company to Metallica to Donna Summer and everything in between and around.

I put this band together for fun after I finished the intensive 1 Year Diploma at the Guitar Institute. Although we play covers, we tend to put our own little twist on many of the songs. We are kind of like the Dr Frankenstein of the cover band scene where we may add some ridiculous jingle to join two songs, simply just segue some interesting song choices together. So if you're reading this, you SHOULD come to see us play live!! Why? Because you'll have a good time :-)

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Other work

I've done a few sessions for various artists including Amy Studt (her "False Smiles" album), which I believe got to around number 14 in the UK charts and Chinch Woo (formerly Urban Dove) a London based group who write good songs but wrapped in exciting and often aggressive rock/electric arrangements.

Recently, I've been on and off tour with UK Gospel heavy weights Four Kornerz. They were up for a M.O.B.O award (among other prestigious silverware honours) and have a large following in the UK and overseas. Those guys have a similar music philosophy to me in terms of diversity of styles. I can relate to the "no boundaries" point of view.

In the jazz world, I've been playing with singer/pianist Faye Patton. She has some cool songs which I really like because it gives me a chance to play some "adult chords" which I have to work out by ear. I've also played for Marcina Arnold who writes the most amazing and stylistically diverse songs. She fuses jazz with soul, latin, and Indian classical. Again, obscure and unorthodox chords.

I have also played for Malarchi, an up and coming star on the rap scene and have done a few radio appearances for the BBC. Apart from playing, I also teach guitar.

I'm also into martial arts. I've done a few over the years but I'm particularly fond of Jiu Jitsu, particularly Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to train like I used to but I am proud to have been awarded my blue belt in Gracie Jiu Jitsu by the legend himself, Royce Gracie. He's a super nice guy but kicked my ass when I asked to spar with him. It was an honour.

Recently, I've been getting into magic. My favs so far are card tricks and mind reading. One the tricks I learned (which I've wanted to know how to do for years) is the one where you stuff a hankerchief in your hand and make it disappear. Unfortunately, the last time I did that trick the hankerchief completely disappeared even from me. I still haven't been able to make it re-appear. I'm hoping to get a few more tricks together and create a little reportoire.

"Oh baybee ah wanna get witcha, an' take yo' pitcha. My homeboys tried ta warn me but that butt you got makes memeMe so hawnie. LA waist with an Oakland booty!"

- Text from Martin to me

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